The present invention relates to a muffler for attenuating the sound of the gas discharged from a hermetic refrigeration compressor and, more particularly, to a muffler incorporating a water tube arranged in heat exchange relationship with the muffler wherein the water tube is connected to a water heater in a manner that circulates water from the water heater through the water tube in a closed circuit to heat the water.
It is common practice in refrigeration systems to provide mufflers or sound attentuating devices in the discharge line of motor compressors. Generally, these devices are constructed to have a volume and an extended flow path in order that sounds through a wide range of frequencies may be effectively deadened.
Inherent in the operation of an air-conditioning system or heat pump is the creation of waste heat which is normally dissipated to the atmosphere. Many prior art attempts have been made in utilizing this waste heat from the refrigeration system by providing heat exchange apparatus in which the hot refrigerant gas is passed in heat exchange relationship with water used interiorly of the house and which is normally heated by independent, energy-consuming means such as gas or electricity.
In some prior art systems employing a refrigeration system to heat water, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,690,649--Borgerd; 3,301,002--McGrath; 3,188,829--Seiwert, the refrigeration system condenser or coils are immersed in the water tank. While this has proved to be reasonably satisfactory, it does present some problems such as the hazard of contaminating with refrigerant the water supply system connected to the hot water storage tank in the event of a rupture of the refrigerant condenser, since the condenser is directly immersed in the water stored in the tank. In one prior art attempt to heat water by employing waste heat from a refrigerator, U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,745 discloses a heat exchanger including a refrigerant tube in coil form leading from the output side of a compressor and a water tube in coil form tapped from a source of water to be heated, the tubes being coiled together so that each coil of water tube is interposed between a coil of refrigerant tube. These systems are primarily for the purpose of heating water and, accordingly, are connected with the refrigeration system solely for that purpose even though, inherently, once connected may lower the temperature of the refrigerant due to such heat exchange sufficient to make the refrigeration cycle more efficient.
Hot water heaters, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,866--Silva, have been constructed to incorporate the refrigeration system in the tank assembly. This is obviously expensive since the refrigeration system functions to heat the water.